by Kris Bryant
She is quiet so I figure she is on the ice. My lunch is over anyway. What a nice surprise.
Chapter Twenty
“You sound frustrated,” Stone says.
“I’m trying to put together this bookshelf. It’s worse than anything from Ikea.”
“You want some help? I can bring over dinner if you haven’t eaten yet.”
An impromptu date. I start to panic. I look a mess. My hair is in a messy ponytail and I’m wearing yoga pants and a large T-shirt that says Raging Lesbian. I needed an encouraging wardrobe to tackle this project.
“Um. Sure. If you don’t have other plans.” I’m trying to figure out if I have enough time to shower and clean up. I already know our relationship has the potential to turn into hard, fast sex at the drop of my panties. Speaking of which, I don’t even know how to ask her what happened to my panties from the locker room.
“How about Chinese?”
“Sounds yummy. Anything chicken is good.”
“Great. I’ll see you in half an hour.” She hangs up and I make a fast break to the bathroom, stripping off my clothes all the way down the hall.
My shower is quick with minimal shaving required. I change into fresh yoga pants and a sleeveless T-shirt that makes me look casual, but super cute. I keep my hair up because I can’t work on this project with my hair in my face. Thirty-two minutes later, there’s a knock at my door. I do a quick check of myself and open the door. Stone’s standing there looking dangerous and hot in her tight jeans and leather jacket. She holds up a giant brown bag with one hand and a bag of apples with the other.
“Did you just come by to bring me apples so that I would make you another pie?” I ask.
She smiles sheepishly at me. “My mom actually made me bring them. They loved your pie as well.” She lifts up a bag of beautifully mixed apples. I laugh.
“Get in here.” I shut the door behind her and try not to focus on her nearness. I take the apples and put them in the kitchen.
“Did you murder this bookcase? How is there so much stuff everywhere?” She turns to me in disbelief. “How is this even possible?”
“Right? I just emptied the box and a zillion pieces spilled out. Some assembly required means don’t forget to hire an engineer,” I say.
She takes off her jacket to reveal a long sleeved Gray Wolves Hockey T-shirt. Red, black, and silver are strong colors and they look good on her. “Should we get started?”
“How about we dig into this food before we dig into that hot mess?” I ask. She nods and follows me into the dining room.
“Your place looks great. I mean, not that I saw it before, but it looks nice. Spacious.” She reaches for the fried rice and serves me, then her. Her thoughtfulness makes me smile. “I hope you like orange chicken. It’s the most popular.” I nod and she piles some on my plate. I pour us iced teas and wait for her to sit.
“My walls are too bare. I need art. My friend Rachel wants me to spend a weekend in New York and hit some of the galleries.”
“Oh, she’s the woman you took to the play, right?”
“She’s really great. She’s been a good friend to me the last few weeks.”
“Just friends?” she asks. She’s jealous. I find that I like that.
“Just friends, I promise. I think even you would like her,” I say.
She frowns at me. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I just mean that she’s so likable. I think she’s the kind of person who appeals to everyone. My parents liked her immediately.” I dig into my food, suddenly very nervous for some reason.
“I see,” Stone says. She sounds sad.
“Stone, please. She’s just a friend. She’s not who I want to get to know better.” I reach out and touch her hand. She smiles and I see her relax. “Plus, I really need your help putting this shelf together.” That gets her to laugh.
“You’re the only person who can use me any way you want,” she says.
I almost choke on my food. The look on her face tells me she means exactly what I think she does. Tonight might get interesting. I change the topic to our families. That’s a lighter topic. Stone has a younger brother who’s in college. He’s also athletic, but his sport is basketball. At six foot seven, he’s the perfect height for it.
“Was he just not interested in hockey?” I ask. We’ve moved from the dining room into the living room.
She turns and smirks at me. “He wasn’t good enough,” she says.
“It’s probably hard to be in your shadow.”
“I really tried to help him, but he just wasn’t coordinated enough. Hockey is very quick and precise. He had a hard time making the stick a part of himself. Now basketball? He makes it look easy.”
“Are you close with him?”
“Definitely. My whole family is close. What about you? Any siblings?” she asks.
“I’m an only child but I think I’m pretty close with my parents. We take trips together and still do a lot of family stuff.”
“Do they live around here?”
“No, they are in Connecticut. Not too bad of a drive if I want to see them.” It only takes me three hours by car. My parents are close enough if I need them, but far enough away so they can’t just stop by.
“Why do you live here?” Stone asks.
“I got the job at Elite. I love it. I can’t imagine living anywhere else at the moment.”
“I know what you mean. I’ve bounced around on a few teams, but I’m grateful that I ended up here in my hometown. My life is here. My family, my friends. Hockey. It’s all here,” she says. Stone tells me her history and the ups and downs of being traded in the league. “I’ll probably retire here with the Gray Wolves. I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.”
“Where did you start your career?” I remember reading about it, but I can’t recall.
“Up in Maine. Only for a year though. Then I was traded to New York. Now I’m here,” she says.
“I love that there are more teams popping up along the East Coast and upper Midwest. That means the sport is growing,” I say.
“It’s great for coaching opportunities, too. I mean, hopefully I’ll get to play one or two more seasons, then I’m going to have to come up with something else. Unless I want to peddle apples for a living.” She shrugs her shoulders. “All right, enough stalling. Let’s get this shelf built.”
I sigh and get up from the couch. I was just getting comfortable, too. Stone gathers all the hardware, puts everything in organized piles, and reads over the instructions. She finds the first piece and asks me to hold it in place. She screws in the pieces, her body right below mine. My T-shirt flares out a bit from my waist so I can’t see her face.
“I think I’m just going to stay down here,” she says.
Since the piece is securely in place, I’m able to take a step back and see that she is looking up my shirt. My eyes widen in shock. “Stone!”
She laughs at my scolding. “Eh, it was nice while it lasted.” She shrugs and moves to the other side of the bookshelf. “I’m going to need you to hold this one in place, too.” I narrow my eyes at her and she holds her hands up. “I’ll be good.” She wiggles her brow up and down several times until I laugh. I move to the other side and hold the board in place. My shirt flares out again, but I leave it. Stone doesn’t say anything. We manage to put the bookshelf together, quietly, and quickly. “I can’t believe you couldn’t put this together yourself. Easy peasy,” Stone says.
“What about all of these pieces?” I point at the pile on the floor.
Stone reaches out and shakes the bookshelf. It’s sturdy and doesn’t give. “Strictly extras. I have no idea where they go and they’re not on the directions. I say throw them in a box and move on. Where do you want this?” she asks.
“Oh, I can move it. Thanks, though.” I’m nervous. I start chewing on my bottom lip.
“Come on. I’m here. Use me,” she says.
“My bedroom,” I say, not looking at her.
“Oh. Well, let’s put a few pieces of cardboard underneath it and slide it back there.” Her face is emotionless. I can feel my cheeks redden. “It will only take a minute.” I nod. She slips cardboard under each corner. “Okay, lead the way.” I pull while she pushes so I’m facing her. Her eyes are blazing tonight. I can tell she is turned on. I remember those eyes from the locker room.
“How’s your ankle?” I don’t like that she’s pushing. That’s a lot of stress on it.
“I’m fine. Really. The cardboard makes it easy.”
“It’s a great little trick. Thank you for doing this with me.” She winks at me over the top of the bookshelf. My heart hiccups. We have to move the bookshelf in and out of the doorway several times before we finally get the right angle to slide it into the room. By the time it’s in the place I want it, both of us have worked up a sweat.
“This is nice. Is everything new?” Stone looks around. Thankfully, my room is relatively clean. I even made the bed.
“Yes. I’m still getting used to the bed though,” I say, then cringe.
“I like your bed. It’s low. And big.”
“I have no idea why I got a king, but I do like the space,” I say. Stone nods and walks out of the room. I follow her, understanding the need to get out of there. “You’re walking well.”
“I feel good. It’s still a little tight, but I can walk without limping now.”
I don’t realize how close I am to her, but I want to make sure she is okay. “Can I take a look at it?” I look up at her, her nearness affecting me more than I expect.
“Sure.” She walks over to the couch and slips off her brace. It’s tight, but she is able to take if off without too much difficulty. I sit down on the couch and have her put her leg on my lap. The incision has healed nicely and even though her ankle is swollen, it’s nothing out of the ordinary. “See? I’ve been putting gel padding along the incision and taking care of my leg and my ankle. Nobody wants me to heal as much as I do.” I move her ankle forward, back, side to side. Without even knowing it, I start a deep tissue massage. The worst thing for her is scar tissue and I don’t know that I trust anybody else to do as good a job as I can. “I hate that I’ve missed this abuse, Doc. Nobody does this like you do.”
“Sad that out of everything, this is what you miss most.” I playfully pout.
“I miss your touch. You were always gentle with me.” That makes me smile. “And you never put up with my crap. And you never knew who I was,” she says.
I laugh at that memory. “I had to Google you because I had no idea. You’re all over the Internet. Mostly good stuff.”
She laughs. “Mostly good? Well, don’t believe the bad. Most of it at least. I’m actually a pretty decent person.”
“I know that. I think you have this big, bad hockey persona for your reputation, but you really are gentle as a kitten.”
She sits up and moves closer to me. “You can never tell anybody that, okay?” I know she’s joking, but this close to her, I’m having a hard time laughing. She is in my personal space and I only have to lean forward to kiss her again. She looks down at my lips. I watch her lips part slightly and her tongue dart out to wet them. Kissing her right now would be a mistake. She’s so warm and by the look on her face, so willing. Her breathing becomes shallow. “It’s getting late. I should probably go.” She carefully removes her leg from my lap and puts the brace back on her ankle.
I’m very quiet. I want her to stay, but I know we aren’t ready for that yet. She taps my knee before she stands. It’s nine which is still early, but I understand her need to get away. I need her to get away, too.
“Thanks for dinner and for rescuing me tonight,” I say.
“It was fun even if I had to work the whole time.”
I put my hand on her arm. “I won’t put you to work the next time you come over.” She lifts her eyebrow and I look away. “Let me know your schedule and I’ll cook for us.”
“I’m free every night except Friday and Saturday. This weekend we’re in town, but I won’t get out of there until late.”
“How about Thursday?”
“I would like that. Let me know if you want me to bring anything,” she says. She runs her fingertips along my jaw and up to my mouth. She presses her fingers to her lips, then to mine. For something so simple, it’s very erotic. “Good night, Hayley.” She slips out of the door before I have a chance to respond.
“Good night, Stone,” I say quietly. I shut the door and lean against it. How can one simple touch set my body on fire? I head for the bathroom to take a shower to cool off, but I end up touching myself under the hot stream and picture Stone’s mouth on me instead. My orgasm is hard and I bend over from the force of it. My knees are wobbly and I’m breathless. Hopefully, this will hold me over until we decide to take our relationship to the next level, which could be as soon as Thursday.
Chapter Twenty-one
“I need to leave early today. As soon as I’m done with Ava. Are you okay with that?”
Gloria looks up from her pile of paperwork. “That’s fine. What’s going on?”
I’m not about to tell her I have a hot date with my former patient, the child of one of her friends. Nope. I’m not ready to tell her yet.
“I have to pick up a few things before stores close.” I downplay it. She falls for it.
“That’s fine. See you in the morning. Have a good night.” She returns to her paperwork.
I shut the door and swallow a whoop of delight. I have to get to the grocery store and figure out what I’m going to make for dinner tonight. We both love Italian and chicken, but I want tonight’s meal to be special, yet light. I’ll start off with a salad with balsamic vinegar dressing. I decide on brown sugar spiced baked chicken with pesto brown rice pilaf. It’s quick, but tastes like I spent hours on it. I did take all of my cookware from the condo so the only thing I need is the ingredients.
“Baby Ava is here,” Tina announces through the intercom system. Already? I look at my watch. They’re early, but that only helps me.
“Okay, I’ll be right there.” I fold my grocery list in half and slip it into my back pocket. At least I got my list made. “Come here, baby girl.” Ava now comes to me without hesitation. I bounce her slightly on my hip as I take her into the therapy room, her parents in tow. “How has she been doing?” The Sullivans are very involved with getting Ava, their first baby, on track.
“We’ve been doing the exercises with her and I really think they’re helping,” Marti says. I can see improvement, too. I roll Ava over and work on tightening her tiny muscles in her legs and arms. She doesn’t mind our little exercises. She loves the attention. Now that she is used to me, she’s even more enthusiastic during our time together. That just means she wants to please me and her parents. She makes me want to have a child of my own. Wait. Where did that come from?
In no time at all, our session is over. As sad as I am to see her go, I’m anxious to get out of here and get my shopping done. I hand her back to her parents and say my goodbyes. Stone is going to be at my house in less than three hours and I still need to shop, cook, clean, and shower.
* * *
“I brought white and red wines. I wasn’t sure what to bring and you didn’t answer your phone.” Stone is at my door holding two bottles of wine.
“I’m so sorry. I’ve been busy since I got home. Please come in,” I say. She follows me in and I offer to take her coat. She’s wearing khakis and a thin black sweater. She looks dark, dangerous, and sexy as hell. Her hair is perfectly messed up and her eyes are bright and happy. “You look really nice.”
“Thank you. You look beautiful as ever.”
I blush because I’m not used to compliments. I took great pains to look good tonight. Not too good, but good enough. I’m wearing a simple black blouse with tailored slacks. My hair is down and wavy, like I had it up all day and just let it down. She doesn’t need to know that I spent more time on my hair than on dinner. I take her coat and ask her to open the white wine. I hang her jacket in the hall closet. It smells spicy and sweet. I refrain from burying my nose in it.
“I found the bottler opener,” Stone says from the kitchen. She holds it up so that I can see it. “Dinner smells incredible. What did you make us?”
“Hopefully, something you’ll like. Are you hungry? It should be ready.” She pours me a glass of wine. I shiver when our fingers brush as she hands me the glass. If she notices, she doesn’t say anything.
“Tell me about your day.” She leans her hip against the counter and gives me her undivided attention. I’m not used to such intensity. I’ve spent the last three years with somebody who talked to me without ever looking at me. This is new for me. It makes me feel nervous and like the most important person at the same time.
“It was good. I love working with babies and today was baby day,” I say.
“How’s Davis doing?” she asks.
“He’s only in two days a week now. Kids are amazing. The worst things can happen to them, but they are the strongest people. That’s why I love working with them.”
“You’re great with them. Truly.” The timer dings, interrupting our conversation. I smile at her and move around her to get the food. She is right behind me as I take the dish out of the oven and place it on the stovetop. “Mmm. That smells great.” Her nearness makes me jump. I feel her fingers barely touching the small of my back, but her heat penetrates my thin blouse and I shiver. Again. “And it looks even better than it smells.” After bumping into her a second time, she finally gets the hint and takes a few steps back. “Is there anything I can do? I feel kind of useless right now.”
“You are my date so no. Just sit down and look pretty.” She rolls her eyes at me, but takes a seat. I carry over the chicken and rice. The salad is already at the table. Everything is set. I just need to sit down. I take a deep breath and slip into the chair. Stone takes a piece of chicken, adds rice to the plate and then hands me the plate. I’m not used to this nicety. “Thank you.” I wait until she fixes her own plate before I dig into the salad.
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